Our partners KDAB and Qt once again featured nanoQuill and QiTissue at a special event! KDAB and The Qt Company created another nanoQuill Coloring Wall at Embedded World 2019 in Nuremberg, one of the worlds largest trade fairs for experiencing the whole world of embedded systems. With more than 1,100 exhibitors, experts, and numerous speakers from 52 countries, this year #EW2019 addresses the issue of embedded intelligence.

The performance of processors and integrated circuits has improved so much and they have become so inexpensive that new technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence are finding their way into an increasing number of applications. Because this opens up the possibility of totally new systems that perceive their environment autonomously, draw conclusions from it and then make decisions, it made sense to feature nanoQuill and QiTissue and their workflow and machine learning aspects that advance cancer research and accelerate our fight to end the disease.

Elephants, Shrimp, and Programmers: OH MY! Qi Proves How This Unusual ‘Holy’ Trinity Will End Cancer

Michel Nederlof explains how apoptosis uses a programming process of cell death to fight cancer.

Did you know that elephants cannot get cancer? AND, the mantis shrimp has a unique vision system that can detect cancer! AND, programmers can wield code to ‘seek and debug’ and eventually destroy the “data” that cause the disease! Qi President & CEO Michel Nederlof presented these facts and Qi’s mission to resolve cancer at the 20th Anniversary Meeting of KDAB company, a world leader in software development, this January in Florence, Italy.

This ‘holy trinity’ of the elephant, mantis Shrimp and software programmers proved to be a fascinating topic to over 90 KDAB programmers who often wondered “What is this biotech stuff I keep hearing about?” and other news about the KDAB and Qi partnership. While cancer seems to be the elephant in the room for most casual conversation, Nederlof explained to the crowd of coders how the tusked giant’s multiple ‘TP53’ genes has special powers to fix cellular defects that can lead to cancer.

Another species who unexpectedly and more recently joined the war on cancer is the mantis shrimp whose compound eyes and sensitivity to polarized light has helped researchers build cameras to find cancer cells.

“By combining programming, computer vision and 3D graphics, we can create a research application using code and machine learning to speed up the current process of finding how cells work and fight the disease. We can find a lot of inspiration from nature all around us if we look deeper. For example the elephant’s cancer fighting ability by having multiple copies of the TP53-gene, and inspiration from the amazing vision system of the mantis shrimp” said Nederlof.

Qi’s Brand Manager, Colleen Coll, chaired this discussion during a special session in Florence, Italy at KDAB‘s (world leaders in software development) 20th Anniversary Meeting in January to discuss women and minorities in tech and solutions for diversity in the workforce.

When asked by KDAB President & CEO Mathias Kalle Dalheimer to present the topic, Coll was initially torn. With a background in marketing, she has only a few years in the tech field, zero experience in human resources, and just recently completed a course in learning to code. “Kalle thought it would be important to include my own experience and I know just from past conversations with colleagues, it is a subject that you cannot go into lightly without confrontation of biases, particularly within a white-male dominated community.”

The session was a win for both Qi and KDAB, engaging a large group programmers and administrative and executive staff — both men and women representing the Americas, Europe, and Asia. “The key takeaway from this experience was becoming aware of the unconscious biases we ALL have combined with open discussion from all who participated,” said Coll. “The session lasted 20 minutes longer than scheduled. To me, this proves that KDAB’s unique culture and open environment is a benchmark of how tech companies should be proactive in creating a diverse workforce.” And, because their is more and more evidence that prove that diverse representation achieves greater profits (McKinsey & Company) “…KDAB is set to be the game changer.”

Qi Introduces: nanoQuill: The Coloring Book of Life

What if you could use your eye for color to help beat cancer?

Quantitative Imaging Systems (Qi) in partnership with The KDAB Company, The Qt Company, and OHSU Knight Cancer Institute INTRODUCE nanoQuill: The Coloring Book of Life, a crowdsourcing coloring book and app that advances cancer research that advances cancer research. http://bit.ly/2kSMI8O